Inspiration in the Shower

The shower is the best place to think and receive inspiration--at least for me it is. That may explain why I can't take a shower in less than 20 minutes whether or not I wash my hair. Thirty minutes if I shave my legs.

I remember one time during the first few years of our marriage, we had an argument. I stepped into the shower thinking of all the ways HE was wrong and how much he hurt my feelings, preparing my next battle plan. I stepped out of the shower knowing I needed to apologize and ask his forgiveness.

While I was showering yesterday, I thought of the cyber-name I will use for my daughter--Cutie, because she is one. Even when she colors all over her foot with a ball-point pen as I type this.

Ant is selling all of his Pokemon, Star Wars, and Neopet cards from our garage this morning. The first two customers get $1 off their purchase. He's such an enterprising young man. He probably got this idea in the shower last night.

What's in a name

OK, so I'm ABC Momma because we named our kids in alphabetical order as they came. It wasn't intentional, it just turned out that way. We got to C and we are done (can't think of a cute D name). Anyway, I don't really want to give their real names--just to protect the innocent--so I need to come up with aliases (aliai?).

My first son's name in his Spanish class is Antonio, so we will call him Ant for short. It is fitting because ants are small and busy just like him.

We'll call my second son Bud--short for Buddha, his nickname when he was in diapers with a large belly.

For my daughter, it's between Crazy and Candy--she's happily wild and sweet, and loves sweets. Hmmm. I'll have to think about that some more.

Heidi is cool

I grew up in a family of 6 children--5 girls and one boy (ggbggg). I'm the second child and I was 12 when my last sister Heidi was born. I must have been too absorbed in my own life as she grew up, because I don't know a whole lot about her except that she's cool. Check out the link and you'll know why.

Heidi has recently moved in with my family and I'm so glad I have another chance to get to know her.

Choice in public education

I'm a big supporter of choice in education. When my A was in preschool, I got involved in developing a public charter school that uses the Harbor Method of instruction which is based on the belief that "education should be child-centered and built on high expectations for both student behavior and academic endeavor". As the schools that use this method become more and more popular among parents, they also become more and more controversial to the traditional school districts and teachers' unions. Here's a letter I sent to the editor of a local paper that ran a story trying to discredit the method.

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO A PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL USING THE HARBOR METHOD. . .
. . . if you are satisfied with the mediocre, teach-to-the-standardized-test instruction she currently receives. Harbor teachers instruct beyond the standard, thus relieving stress for them and students because they are prepared well before test time. The teacher directs educational assistants and parents who meet with each child in the class. No stigma is associated with it. Each child is praised for their accomplishments and is helped in their areas of struggle.
. . . if it is okay with you that your kindergartener is blocked by teasing first-graders in the bathroom, resulting in an embarrassing accident. Harbor school children know that the bathroom is a place to go do their business, wash their hands, and get out. The “no talking in the bathroom” rule is one of the ways Harbor schools provide a safe environment.
. . . if she and her click of friends want to criticize other kids for being different. There are many opportunities to play and have fun at Harbor schools where the children are taught the skills to be kind.

A responsible parent would not take my word for it though; nor take the word of those who are intimidated by the competition of these successful public schools. Come tour a Harbor school to observe the instruction and play time, interview the administrator and teachers, interview current charter school families, check test scores on the internet, and if the waiting list is too long when you apply, get some neighbors together and petition to make another school just like it for your children and your community. That's what we did for CPCS.

Book: The Color of Water

The neighborhood book club met last night and discussed the biography/autobiography The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride. The mother is a Polish-Jewish immigrant that came over to America in the 1920s. Through several circumstances, she feels more comfortable being amidst black people and marries her love who is black. They have 8 children before he dies of cancer at a young age. She then falls in love with and marries another black man and has four more children with him. The chapters of the book alternate, comparing the lives of the mother and one of her sons (James McBride). Its a wonderful, educational, interesting, inspiring book.

The experiences and privacy of the mother help me to understand why we can't find information about my husband's grandfather who was also a Polish-Jewish immigrant in the 1920s. Like the mother, he changed his name when he entered America. We only have rumors of how he got here--was it through Ellis Island or Florida or Cuba? We just know that he ended up in Brooklyn and worked as a taylor. He died in 1950 when my father-in-law was just 11.

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns is the book for our next meeting in April.

Shouldn't have...

I'm constantly finding my foot in my mouth, and it gags me.

The Links

Tonight I'm playing around with the blog template and changing the links. The first link is to the website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was born and raised in that church. There came a time in my late teens, though, when I needed to decide for myself if I really believed in the doctrine. As I read the scriptures and prayed daily, I developed a personal relationship with my Heavenly Father and my testimony and faith in my Savior, Jesus Christ grew as I relied on the mercy that comes through the Atonement. At age 21 I served a mission for 18 months in New York City and came to love God's children from all over the world. That was over ten years ago. Now my mission is to teach my children how to build their personal relationships with God.

The second link is to an article I read a few weeks ago that was my inspiration for starting this blog.

The third link is to Daring Young Mom's blog. She makes me laugh. I love how her family keeps in touch through their blogs. I'm trying to get my parents and sisters into this now. We'll see how that goes.

The fourth link is to the website of someone else who cracks me up--Glenn Beck. I listen to him on the radio whenever I get the carpool kids from school in the afternoons. He wrote a book, The Real America, that has a great chapter about politics.

That's about all I can do tonight before I fall asleep.